Header links

Follow Bar

RSN login or register

Search form

Main menu

Bruins Midseason Report Card

Bruins Midseason Report Card

It will get tougher for the Black and Gold as they play 24 games in the final 45 days of the regular season, and maintaining their first half performance might prove challenging without reinforcements through a trade. With that in mind, here is the Bruins report card for the first half of the season:

Credit:

USA Today Sports

Patrice Bergeron: A-

Was a touch slow to start in the goal-scoring category this season, but that is an extreme nit to pick. Bergeron leads the Bruins with 22 points and a plus-18 rating, and is among the NHL’s best again while winning over 60 percent of his face-offs. That doesn’t even mention the superb, competitive defense that he plays. His line has been the team’s best and most consistent all season, and that shouldn’t be a surprise. Bergeron is among the NHL’s best players and he’s showing it again this year.

Credit:

USA Today Sports

Brad Marchand: A+

There is literally nothing to dislike about his game. He’s toned down the incidents where discipline was an issue in the past, and he leads the Bruins with 12 goals scored and four game-winning goals. The Nose Face Killah has gone from fourth line agitator to explosive top-six winger capable of scoring 30 goals and making others on his line better. Marchand and Bergeron are among the most fearless and tenacious players on the B’s while willing to win battles by sticking their noses into areas where others will not. The only question now is how much better Marchand can become because the honors will start rolling in he can maintain his current level of play.

David Krejci: B+

Krejci has rebounded nicely from last year’s “down” season when he finished as a minus player, but also posted a career high with 23 goals on the season. He’s remained remarkably consistent over the first two months of the season even when Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic have both tailed off. Krejci has put up 20 points in 2 games, is a plus-3 and is winning 56.4 percent of his face-offs. He’s doing his job, but it’s no coincidence the Bruins collapses against Washington and Pittsburgh coincided with two of Krejci’s worst games of the season.

Credit:

Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports

Tyler Seguin: B-

The grade is based on expectations as everybody assumed Seguin was going to tear the NHL apart after his explosive stint in Switzerland. Instead he struggled with two goals in his first 12 games, and seemed to think things were going to come easy like they did in Europe. To his credit Seguin never let it affect him in the defensive end and has caught fire over the last month as Boston grows offensively and on the power play. Seguin is at his best when he’s playing fast and with purpose, and it’s clear he’s been trying to prove a point after catching some heat for his slow start.

Credit:

USA Today Sports

Milan Lucic: C

Milan Lucic was pissed off to start the season when people expected a train wreck after he didn’t skate much during the lockout, and that emotion and anger powered him to a surprisingly excellent start. But things have slowed down considerably for No. 17 and he’s got only one goal in his last 13 games as his line has faded to the background. Amazingly Lucic only has 33 shots on net in 23 games played this season. That’s averaging less than two shots per game for a player in Lucic that’s averaged 29 goals over the last two seasons. That’s not nearly enough even if the physicality has been there on most nights.

Credit:

Timothy T. Ludwig (USA Today Sports)

Nathan Horton: C+

This is a tough grade: Horton deserves plenty of credit for coming back to full strength after missing a half season due to a concussion, and he’s been good on many nights. Horton ranks third on the Bruins behind Marchand and Seguin with the seven goals scored and he’s been aggressive enough to total up 69 shots on net. But Horton doesn’t have a power play goal and continues to have stretches where you don’t much notice him on the ice. Horton could use a strong second half to the season given that unrestricted free agency is waiting for him after the year is over.

Credit:

Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports

Dougie Hamilton: B+

Another tough grade because there have been extremes of very good (offense) and sometimes bad (defense) in Hamilton’s first experience in the NHL. He is second among NHL rookies with 12 points, he’s been a big factor from the point on the power play and he serves he role of offensive defenseman that the B’s have been searching for over the last seven years since Peter Chiarelli took over the team. But it’s also clear that Hamilton wasn’t ready to go on the defensive end: he’s been out of position on occasion and has lost battles in front of the net to grown men that can overpower him. That will change as Hamilton gets bigger, stronger and more experienced, and it’s all part of the development plan in Boston. He’s a potential franchise defenseman and those guys don’t grow on trees.

Credit:

AP Images

Zdeno Chara: A

Eleven points and a plus-11 in 24 games while averaging 24:43 of ice time with only a couple of hiccups. It was good to see Chara respond like a captain when Tyler Seguin was cheap-shotted by the Montreal Canadiens after the Bruins coaching staff had instructed him not to go after John Scott in the Buffalo game. That might explain why he looked so distracted in that terrible loss against the Sabres, which is still the worst game Boston has played this year. Take that game out of the pile and Chara has been his consistent, excellent, Norris trophy candidate self for the Black and Gold. He’s also the best penalty killer on the NHL’s best penalty kill unit.

Danielle Paille: A-

Paille is having his best personal season with the Bruins, and has done a good job finishing off the chances his speed and tenacious puck pursuit create for him. Paille is the only member of the fourth line that has a positive plus/minus number midway through the season, and he continues to be an invaluable asset on the NHL’s best penalty kill unit. There’s still a sense he could be even better if given shot on the third line and he’s showing that this year while on a pace to break double digits in goals and points during the shortened season.

Credit:

USA Today Sports

Rich Peverley: D

Peverley is another player that kills penalties, mans the power play and takes face-offs like a champ (61.2 percent win rate), but he’s been a big disappointment this season. Three goals scored in 24 games and a team-worst minus-8 while showing little finish when he’s supposed to be a perennial 20-goal scorer for the Bruins. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Peverley dealt before the April 3 deadline given the value in his versatility, and the desire for the Bruins to get a bigger, stronger dynamic body on the wing. Peverley needs to start picking it up.

Credit:

USA Today Images

Dennis Seidenberg: B

The German defenseman is second on the team while soaking up 23:21 of ice time with a plus-6 rating, but his value is about blocking shots, throwing hits and helping tutor Dougie Hamilton as his defensive partner. Seidenberg’s value doesn’t show up on the scoresheet and it’s probably got to the point where the B’s coaching staff expects too much from the blueliner because he can soak up tough minutes while retaining quality play. But that’s to be expected when other defensemen are struggling and the Bruins are carrying a 19-year-old rookie defensemen learning his craft.

Chris Kelly: D-

It’s pretty clear Kelly wasn’t ready to play when the season began and has been paying for it ever since. He’s had costly turnovers in the defensive zone and lost face-offs that have led to goals, and he’s been part of a Bruins third line that’s been anemic offensively. He still does all of the little things well, but nobody really notices when he’s struggling both offensively and defensively.

Credit:

USA Today Sports

Gregory Campbell: C

Campbell has been good, but not great. The fourth got off to a good start and has been excellent in the last handful of games, but seemed to be searching for their comfort zone in the middle portion of the first half. Campbell is another player that deserves some credit for the great performance of the penalty kill.

Credit:

AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

Andrew Ference: C-

Ference has been better lately, but he’s another player that really struggled badly out of the starting gate. He was a minus player until the very end of February when he enjoyed a good game against the New York Islanders on the road, and that’s keyed a much better stretch. But he’s still not playing with the same kind of veteran consistently and stability that one would expect from a guy that’s been around Boston for a long time: passes are sometimes off and he’s been beaten more in the defensive zone in 24 games than all of last year. He says differently, but you have to wonder if the contract uncertainty after this year is affecting him on some level.

Credit:

USA Today Sports

Adam McQuaid: C

Adam McQuaid has been steadily improving after coming back from blood clot surgery, and both he and his defensive partner, Andrew Ference, have had challenging first halves. McQuaid has a couple of assists along with a plus-1 and a couple of scraps during the month of March, and seems to have the strength and snarl back in his game. It should make both McQuaid and Ference better in the second half, but could also prompt the Bruins to make a move for another defenseman in case things don’t stay at an acceptable level.

Chris Bourque: D

The unfortunate position Bourque found himself in was great expectations and the need to produce immediately, and it just didn’t happen the way he had hoped. He had three power play assists and embraced the gritty role of a third line player, but his playmaking skills largely disappeared in a bottom six role. It wasn’t all abut him because Kelly and Peverley were also struggling, but Bourque is probably best served as an extra forward on a Cup contending team like the Bruins.

Credit:

USA Today Sports

Shawn Thornton: B-

Thornton was inconsistent along with the rest of the fourth line, but he’s also factored into some good things for the Black and Gold. He deserves courage credit for stepping in against John Scott so nobody else had to, and his goal served as the turning point in Boston’s win over the Senators this week. The 6:50 of average ice time this season is well below his season norms in Boston, so it’s been difficult to evaluate him at times.

Johnny Boychuk: B

Boychuk has averaged over 20 minutes per game, blocked a ton of shots and has authored a few of his trademark heavy hits. But the belief is that Boychuk could generate a little more offense with his booming shot and willingness to jump up in the play, and hasn’t done that thus far while paired with Chara. It would help if he was manning the powerplay, of course, but Boychuk has been one of the better defensemen among Boston’s corps this season.

Tuukka Rask: A

He ranks among the NHL’s top five in wins (13), save percentage (.927) and goals against average (1.96) and simply needs to maintain his current level of play through a regular season and full playoff workload. Much of Boston’s issues this season in allowing goals have come down to poor defensive zone coverage rather than soft goals allowed, and that’s a credit to the job that Rask has done. The real truth will be told in the playoffs, but nobody in Boston is missing Tim Thomas at this point.

Credit:

US Presswire

Anton Khudobin: B

The collapse against the Penguins was a damned shame because Khudobin was brilliant for the first 50 plus minutes of the game, and he deserved a better fate. But he also probably should have stopped one of the two Brandon Sutter goals that tied and won the game for Pittsburgh, and his numbers are a little down from Rask’s with a 2.52 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. There’s no doubt, however, that Khudobin has proven himself an NHL caliber goaltender this year, and he could have some suitors after the year is over if he’s looking for a starting gig.

Claude Julien: B+

The Bruins coach has done a good job of balancing the necessary practice time with making certain the Bruins are rested enough to be at peak condition, and that will become trickier over the next six weeks. He’s also figured out a workable way to insert Dougie Hamilton into the Bruins lineup without it costing Boston late in close games while pushing him along a deliberate development path. The goaltending rotations have been good and he kept his cool when players like Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley were off to exceedingly slow starts. The one complaint is that Julien hasn’t properly used his timeouts – or used them at all – when the wheels are falling in their third period collapses this season. But that’s a minor issue at best for a coach that has a good pulse on his hockey club.

Peter Chiarlelli: B+

The Chris Bourque deals looks like a miss for now, but they only gave up Zach Hamill for him. The Bruins have been able to get by without a proven veteran left winger that they’ll presumably land before the April 3 trade deadline. Chiarelli did a good job of locking up Seguin, Marchand and Lucic just before the lockout, but he’s walking a fine line with key veterans like Horton and Ference playing out their deals. Much of Chiarelli’s grade will be finalized once the deadline deals are done, but the addition of 38-year-old veteran Jay Pandolfo was a sound one for emergency situations. Just watching Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton in Boston’s lineup gives him a gentlemen’s ‘B’ grade without doing anything else.